Computing system with dynamic web page feature

ABSTRACT

An example method involves accessing web-traffic data associated with a web page hosted by a first computing-device, wherein the web page comprises meta-tag data; using the accessed web traffic data to determine that the first computing-device received a threshold amount of requests that are (i) for the web page and (ii) associated with a search term; responsive to the determining, modifying the meta-tag data based on the search term; and transmitting the modified meta-tag data to a second computing-device, wherein the second computing-device is configured for (i) receiving the modified meta-tag data, (ii) receiving a request for a list of search results based on a set of search terms, (iii) responsive to receiving the request, using the set of search terms and the modified meta-tag data to perform a web search, thereby generating a list of search results, and (iv) transmitting the list of search results to a third computing-device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED DISCLOSURE

This disclosure claims priority to U.S. Provisional Pat. App. No.62/065,334 filed Oct. 17, 2014 and entitled “DYNAMIC WEB PAGE”, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

This disclosure relates to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ filed______ and entitled “COMPUTING SYSTEM WITH DYNAMIC WEB PAGE FEATURE”(Attorney Docket No. 14-1459), which is assigned to the assignee of thepresent disclosure, is being filed simultaneously with the presentdisclosure, and is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

USAGE AND TERMINOLOGY

Throughout this disclosure, unless otherwise specified and/or unless theparticular context clearly dictates otherwise, each usage of “a” or “an”means at least one, and each usage of “the” means the at least one.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to computing devices, and moreparticularly, to computing devices configured for dynamically modifyingmeta-tag data of a web page.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in thissection are not prior art to the claims in this disclosure and are notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

A web page may represent any type of electronic document, file, orinformation that is suitable for distribution from a server that hoststhe web page, to a web browser running on a client. In order tofacilitate this distribution, the server and the web browser may use thehypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). HTTP may be implemented as anapplication-layer request-response protocol. In one example, the webbrowser may submit an HTTP request message to the server, and the servermay return a response message to the web browser. The response messagemay include content such as text, images, multimedia, style sheets,scripts, and so on. The web browser may then render the web page fordisplay on an output component of the client.

In connection with publishing a web page, a publisher may includemetadata in the web page. A commonly used type of metadata is meta-tagdata, which may specify one or more keywords that describe or otherwiserelate to the web page's content. A web-based search engine may considera web page's meta-tag data when indexing the web or performing a websearch to assist in guiding a web user to relevant web content. As such,by carefully determining meta-tag data for a web page, a publisher mayincrease the likelihood that the web page will be included in a list ofsearch results, and that the web page will have a high priority-rankingwithin the list of search results (both, where logically appropriate).

SUMMARY

In one aspect, an example method is disclosed. The method involvesaccessing web-traffic data associated with a web page hosted by a firstcomputing-device, wherein the web page includes meta-tag data; using theaccessed web-traffic data to determine that the first computing-devicereceived a threshold amount of requests that are (i) for the web pageand (ii) associated with a particular search term; responsive todetermining that the first computing-device received the thresholdamount of requests that are (i) for the web page and (ii) associatedwith the particular search term, modifying the meta-tag data based onthe particular search term; and transmitting the modified meta-tag datato a second computing-device, wherein the second computing-device isconfigured for (i) receiving the transmitted modified meta-tag data,(ii) receiving a request for a list of search results based on a set ofsearch terms, (iii) responsive to receiving the request, using the setof search terms and the modified meta-tag data to perform a web search,thereby generating a list of search results, and (iv) transmitting thelist of search results to a third computing-device.

In another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium isdisclosed. The medium has stored thereon program instructions that whenexecuted by a processor cause performance of a set of acts. The set ofacts include accessing web-traffic data associated with a web pagehosted by a first computing-device, wherein the web page includesmeta-tag data; using the accessed web traffic data to determine that thefirst computing-device received a threshold amount of requests that are(i) for the web page and (ii) associated with a particular search term;responsive to determining that the first computing-device received thethreshold amount of requests that are (i) for the web page and (ii)associated with the particular search term, modifying the meta-tag databased on the particular search term; and transmitting the modifiedmeta-tag data to a second computing-device, wherein the secondcomputing-device is configured for (i) receiving the transmittedmodified meta-tag data, (ii) receiving a request for a list of searchresults based on a set of search terms, (iii) responsive to receivingthe request, using the set of search terms and the modified meta-tagdata to perform a web search, thereby generating a list of searchresults, and (iv) transmitting the list of search results to a thirdcomputing-device.

In yet another aspect, another example method is disclosed. The methodinvolves accessing web-traffic data associated with a web page hosted bya first computing-device, wherein the web page includes meta-tag data;using the accessed web traffic data to determine that the firstcomputing-device did not receive a threshold amount of requests that are(i) for the web page and (ii) associated with a particular search term;responsive to determining that the first computing-device did notreceive the threshold amount of requests that are (i) for the web pageand (ii) associated with the particular search term, modifying themeta-tag data based on the particular search term; and transmitting themodified meta-tag data to a second computing-device, wherein the secondcomputing-device is configured for (i) receiving the transmittedmodified meta-tag data, (ii) receiving a request for a list of searchresults based on a set of search terms, (iii) responsive to receivingthe request, using the set of search terms and the modified meta-tagdata to perform a web search, thereby generating a list of searchresults, and (iv) transmitting the list of search results to a thirdcomputing-device.

In still another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium isdisclosed. The medium has stored thereon program instructions that whenexecuted by a processor cause performance of a set of acts. The set ofacts include accessing web-traffic data associated with a web pagehosted by a first computing-device, wherein the web page includesmeta-tag data; using the accessed web-traffic data to determine that thefirst computing-device did not receive a threshold amount of requeststhat are (i) for the web page and (ii) associated with a particularsearch term; responsive to determining that the first computing-devicedid not receive the threshold amount of requests that are (i) for theweb page and (ii) associated with the particular search term, modifyingthe meta-tag data based on the particular search term; and transmittingthe modified meta-tag data to a second computing-device, wherein thesecond computing-device is configured for (i) receiving the transmittedmodified meta-tag data, (ii) receiving a request for a list of searchresults based on a set of search terms, (iii) responsive to receivingthe request, using the set of search terms and the modified meta-tagdata to perform a web search, thereby generating a list of searchresults, and (iv) transmitting the list of search results to a thirdcomputing-device.

These, as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives, willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading thefollowing detailed description, with reference where appropriate to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an example system;

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of an example computing device;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting acts of an example method; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting acts of another example method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

As indicated above, in connection with publishing a web page, apublisher (or another individual) may determine meta-tag data andinclude such meta-tag data in the webpage. However, in some instances,such meta-tag data may not accurately represent the search terms thatweb users are likely to use in searching for the content of the webpage. This may occur for a variety of reasons.

For example, this may occur because the publisher may characterize thecontent of the web page differently from how a web user seeking thecontent may characterize it. In addition, even if the publisher doesdetermine “appropriate” meta-tag data for the web page, a web user'scharacterization of such content may change over time. Since thepublisher typically determines meta-tag data of a web page when the webpage is being published, the originally determined meta-tag data maybecome outdated after the web page is published.

This issue may be particularly common in connection with web pages thatinclude news-related content. To illustrate this, consider the event ofthe major hurricane passing through New Orleans, La. in August of 2005.When the hurricane was first discovered, a publisher may have publisheda web page with content related to this event and with meta-tag dataspecifying the keywords HURRICANE, LOUISIANA, and AUGUST, for instance.After that however, when the hurricane was formally recognized by theWorld Meteorological Organization, the hurricane became commonly knownas hurricane “Katrina.” But unless the publisher manually updated themeta-tag data of the web page, the meta-tag data would not specify thisterm as a keyword. As a result, a web user conducting a web search basedon the search term KATRINA, may have received a list of search resultsthat did not include an indication of the web page (or perhaps that didinclude an indication of the web page, but with a low-priority rankingassigned to it), despite the web page being one that the web user wouldlikely be interested in.

To help address this issue, according to the present disclosure, acomputing device may use data generated by a data-logging system todynamically modify meta-tag data. A data-logging system may generate avariety of different types of data. As one example, a data-loggingservice may generate web-traffic data associated with a web page. Suchweb-traffic data may include an indication of a web user's request forthe web page, an indication of a previous or referral web-page, such asa search-result web-page, that directed the web user to the currentweb-page, and an indication of a search term that the web user providedto generate the search result page. The data-logging system may transmitsuch data to one or more computing devices or may store such web-trafficdata in a data storage for later retrieval (e.g., to generate reportsbased on the data).

By using web-traffic data to modify meta-tag data of a web page, themeta-tag data may more accurately represent the search terms that webusers are likely to use in searching for the content of the web page. Asa result, the web page may become more easily discoverable by anotherweb user who is interested in such content.

According to the present disclosure, in one example a method involves afirst computing-device accessing web-traffic data associated with a webpage hosted by a second computing-device, where the web page includesmeta-tag data. The method further involves the first computing-deviceusing the accessed web-traffic data to determine that the secondcomputing-device received a threshold amount of requests that are (i)for the web page and (ii) associated with a particular search term, andin response, the first-computing device may modify the meta-tag databased on the particular search term.

In one example, if the particular search term does not already exist asa keyword specified by the meta-tag data, the particular search term maybe added as a keyword specified by the meta-tag data. As such, modifyingthe meta-tag data may involve adding, to a set of meta-tag keywords ofthe web page, a meta-tag keyword that specifies the particular searchterm. As another example, if the particular search term is already akeyword specified by the meta-tag data, a level of priority (sometimesreferred to as a score, weight, or relevancy factor) of the particularsearch term may be increased. As such, in another example, modifying themeta-tag data may involve increasing a priority level assigned to ameta-tag keyword within a group of meta-tag keywords of the web page,where the meta-tag keyword specifies the particular search term. Such anindication of priority may be included as part of the meta-tag data.

According to the present disclosure, in another example a methodinvolves a first computing-device accessing web-traffic data associatedwith a web page hosted by a second computing-device, where the web pageincludes meta-tag data. The method further involves the firstcomputing-device using the accessed web-traffic data to determine thatthe second computing-device did not receive a threshold amount ofrequests that are (i) for the web page and (ii) associated with aparticular search term, and in response, the first computing-device maymodify the meta-tag data based on the particular search term.

In one example, if the particular search term already exists as akeyword specified by the meta-tag data, the particular search term maybe removed from being a keyword specified by the meta-tag data. As such,modifying the meta-tag data may involve removing, from a set of meta-tagkeywords of the web page, a meta-tag keyword that specifies theparticular search term. Alternatively, a priority of the particularsearch term specified as a keyword by the meta-tag data may be decreasedto have a lower level of priority among the meta-tags keywords of theweb page. As such, in another example, modifying the meta-tag data mayinvolve decreasing a priority level assigned to a meta-tag keywordwithin a group of meta-tag keywords of the web page, where the meta-tagkeyword specifies the particular search term.

As indicated above, by using web-traffic data to modify meta-tag data ofa web page, the meta-tag data may more accurately represent the searchterms that web users are likely to use in searching for the content ofthe web page.

II. Example System

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an example system 100 in whichaspects of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown, thesystem 100 includes four computing devices, namely an end-user device102, a search-engine server 104, a web-page server 106, and adata-logging system 108. Further, the system 100 includes a firstcommunication-network 110 and a second communication-network 112.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of an example computing-device 200.The computing device 200 may take a variety of forms, including forexample, a workstation, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone, among otherpossibilities. The computing device 200 may include various components,including for example, a user interface 202, a communication interface204, a processor 206, and a data storage 208, all of which may becommunicatively linked to each other via a system bus, network, or otherconnection mechanism 210.

The user interface 202 may be configured for facilitating interactionbetween the computing device 200 and a user of the computing device 200,such as by receiving input from the user and providing output to theuser. Thus, the user interface 202 may include input components such asa computer mouse, a keyboard, a touch-sensitive panel, or perhaps amicrophone for receiving voice commands. In addition, the user interface202 may include output components such as a display screen (which, forexample, may be combined with a touch-sensitive panel) a sound speakeror other audio output mechanism, and a haptic feedback system.

The communication interface 204 may be configured to allow the computingdevice 200 to communicate with one or more devices according to anynumber of protocols. The communication interface 204 may take a varietyof forms. As one example, the communication interface 204 may take theform of a wired interface, such as an Ethernet interface. As anotherexample, the communication interface 204 may take the form of a wirelessinterface, such as a cellular or WI-FI interface.

The processor 206 may include a general purpose processor (e.g., amicroprocessor) and/or a special purpose processor (e.g., a digitalsignal processors (DSP)).

The data storage 208 may include one or more volatile, non-volatile,removable, and/or non-removable storage components, such as magnetic,optical, or flash storage, and may be integrated in whole or in partwith the processor 206. Further, the data storage 208 may take the formof a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having storedthereon program instructions (e.g., compiled or non-compiled programlogic and/or machine code) that, when executed by the processor 206,cause the computing device 200 to perform one or more acts, such asthose described in this disclosure. The data storage 208 may also beused to store various types of data, such as those types described inthis disclosure, for processing and/or later retrieval.

Generally, the system 100 may be configured such that each of thecomputing devices in the system 100 may communicate with one or more ofthe other computing device via the first communication-network 110and/or the second communication-network 112. The communication networks110, 112 may take a variety of forms. For example, the firstcommunication-network may take the form of a packet-switched networksuch as the Internet. And the second communication-network may take theform of a local-area network (LAN).

III. Example Operations

To conduct a web search, a user may cause the end-user device 102 torequest from the search-engine server 104 a list of search results basedon a set of search terms. Responsive to receiving the request, thesearch-engine server 104 may use the set of search terms to perform aweb search, thereby generating a list of search results, which thesearch-engine server 104 may provide to the end-user device 102 fordisplay on an output component of the end-user device 102.

As discussed above, the search-engine server 104 may consider a webpage's meta-tag data in connection with performing a web search. Forexample, where a web page A hosted by the web-page server 106 hasmeta-tag data that specifies the keywords HURRICANE, LOUISIANA, andAUGUST, and where a user conducts a web search based on the search termsHURRICANE and AUGUST, the search-engine server 104 may identify theappropriate matches, and as a result include an indication of the webpage A in the list of search results. The search-engine server 104 mayassign a level of priority to the web page A based on a variety offactors, including for instance, the degree of similarity betweenmeta-tag keywords and the search terms and/or any weighting factorsassociated with any of the particular meta-tag keywords. Thesearch-engine server 104 may use the assigned priorities to order theindicated web pages within the list of search results. In one example,to obtain the meta-tag data of the web page A, the search-engine server104 may transmit a request to the web-page server 106, and in response,the web-page server may transmit the meta-tag data, and/or other datarelating to the web page A, to the search-engine server 104.

After the end-user device 102 receives and displays the list of searchresults, a user may cause the end-user device 102 to select the web pageA from the list of search results, which in turn may cause the end-userdevice 102 to request from the web-page server 106, the web page A. Inresponse, the web-page server 106 may provide the web page A to theend-user device 102, which may receive and display the web page A forthe user.

The data-logging system 108 may monitor and log data, and may generatereports related to such data. In one example, the data-logging system108 may generate web-traffic data associated with a web page. Suchweb-traffic data may include, for example, data relating to one or morerequests for the web page, including for instance, a date and time ofthe request, an identifier (e.g., an Internet Protocol (IP) address)associated with the computing device from which the request originated,or an indication of the manner in which the computing device wasdirected to the web page (referred to herein as “referral data”).Referral data may indicate, for instance, a referral web-page accessedby the computing device that directed the computing device to thecurrent web-page via a hyperlink, for example. Referral data may alsoindicate one or more associated search terms that were provided to asearch engine to generate the referral web-page (i.e., a list of searchresults).

In one example, the data-logging system 108 may log data and generatereports based on data that traverses the second communication-network112. This data may be web-traffic data associated with the web page A,for instance. The data-logging system 108 and/or another system may usevarious techniques to monitor, log, and generate data as known in theart. As one example, the web-page server 106 may log web-page requeststhat it receives from the end-user device 102, and then may forward suchrequests to the data-logging system 108. In addition, in response toreceiving such requests, the web-page server 106 may transmit a “webbug” to the end-user device 102, which may cause the end-user device 102to transmit data regarding its activity to the data-logging system 108.In some instances, it may be beneficial to apply techniques that reducethe time between the occurrence of an event and the time that thedata-logging system reports such an event. In the present disclosure,this may have the effect of the meta-tag data of a web page beingdynamically updated based on web-user activity in real-time or nearreal-time.

As discussed above, a computing device may use data generated by adata-logging system to dynamically modify meta-tag data of a web page.FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting acts that can be carried out in anexample method to provide such a feature.

At block 302, the example method involves accessing web-traffic dataassociated with a web page hosted by a first computing-device, whereinthe web page includes meta-tag data. For example, this may involve theweb-page server 106 accessing web-traffic data associated with the webpage A hosted by the web-page server 106.

At block 304, the method involves using the accessed web traffic data todetermine that the first computing-device received a threshold amount ofrequests that are (i) for the web page and (ii) associated with aparticular search term. For example, this may involve the web-pageserver 106 using the accessed web-traffic data to determine that theweb-page server 106 received a threshold amount of requests that are (i)for the web page A and (ii) associated with the particular search termKATRINA. Such requests may have originated from the end-user device 102or from other end-user devices.

In one implementation, the threshold amount of requests that are (i) forthe web page and (ii) associated with the particular search terminvolves a threshold number of requests that are (i) for the web page,(ii) associated with the particular search term, and (iii) received bythe computing device within a particular time period. The thresholdamount, threshold number, and/or the particular time period may bedetermined by a publisher or another individual or may be determinedbased on one or more rules.

In some instances, the particular time period may be inverselyproportional to the number of users for which activity is beingmonitored by the data-logging system in connection with a given webpage. As such, where requests are being monitored for a relatively largenumber of users, the particular time period may be zero to three hours.Alternatively, where requests are being monitored for a relatively smallnumber of users (and perhaps even for a single user), the particulartime period may be zero to three months. In another example, one or morethresholds may be defined so as to identify a top n number of keywordsrequested during a particular time period.

At block 306, the method involves responsive to determining that thefirst computing-device received the threshold amount of requests thatare (i) for the web page and (ii) associated with the particular searchterm, modifying the meta-tag data based on the particular search term.For example, this may involve responsive to the web-page server 106determining that the web page-server received the threshold amount ofrequests that are (i) for the web page A (ii) associated with the searchterm KATRINA, modifying the meta-tag data based on the search termKATRINIA.

In one example, if the particular search term does not already exist asa keyword specified by the meta-tag data, the particular search term maybe added as a keyword specified by the meta-tag data. As such, modifyingthe meta-tag data may involve adding, to a set of meta-tag keywords ofthe web page, a meta-tag keyword that specifies the particular searchterm. For example, this may involve the web-page server 106 adding to aset of meta-tag keywords of the web page A, a meta-tag keyword thatspecifies KATRINA.

As another example, if the particular search term is already a keywordspecified by the meta-tag data, a level of priority of the particularsearch term may be increased. As such, in another example, modifying themeta-tag data may involve increasing a priority level assigned to ameta-tag keyword within a group of meta-tag keywords of the web page,where the met-tag keyword specifies the particular search term. Forexample, this may involve the web-page server 106 increasing a prioritylevel assigned to a meta-tag keyword within a group of meta-tag keywordsof the web page A, where the meta-tag keyword specifies the termKATRINIA. The assigned priority level may be stored in a data storage ofthe web-page server 106 as part of the meta-tag data, for instance.

Modifying the meta-tag data based on the particular search term mayinvolve modifying other types of meta-tag data included in a web page,including for example a title of the web page, or perhaps meta-tag datacontemplated by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in connection withthe Semantic Web movement.

As a result of modifying the meta-tag data in one or more of these ways,search terms having a large number of requests may be specified asmeta-tag keywords (or have an increased priority compared to the othermeta-tag keywords), so that the meta-tag keywords—and potentially theorder of priority of the meta-tag keywords—more accurately reflect webuser's current characterization of the web page's content. As such,continuing with the example provided above, if a web user later conductsa web search based on the search term KATRINA, the web user may receivea list of search results that includes, with a high level of priority,an indication of the web page A.

At block 308, the method involves transmitting the modified meta-tagdata to a second computing-device, wherein the second computing-deviceis configured for (i) receiving the transmitted modified meta-tag data,(ii) receiving a request for a list of search results based on a set ofsearch terms, (iii) responsive to receiving the request, using the setof search terms and the modified meta-tag data to perform a web search,thereby generating a list of search results, and (iv) transmitting thelist of search results to a third computing-device.

In one example, this may involve the web-page server 106 transmittingthe modified meta-tag data of web page A to the search-engine server104. Further, the search-engine server 104 may receive the modifiedmeta-tag data of web page A, and may receive a request for a list ofsearch results based on a set of search terms that includes the termKATRINA. Responsive to receiving the request, the search-engine server104 may use the term KATRINA and the modified meta-tag data of web pageA to perform a web search, thereby generating a list of search results,which includes a reference to web page A. The search-engine server 104may then transmit the list of search results to the end-user device 102,which in turn, may receive and output the list of search results.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting acts that can be carried out in ananother example method to provide the feature of a computing deviceusing data generated by a data-logging system to dynamically modifymeta-tag data of a web page.

At block 402, the example method involves accessing web-traffic dataassociated with a web page hosted by a first computing-device, whereinthe web page includes meta-tag data. For example, this may involve theweb-page server 106 accessing web-traffic data associated with the webpage A hosted by the web-page server 106.

At block 404, the method involves using the accessed web traffic data todetermine that the first computing-device did not receive a thresholdamount of requests that are (i) for the web page and (ii) associatedwith a particular search term. For example, this may involve theweb-page server 106 using the accessed web-traffic data to determinethat the web-page server 106 did not receive a threshold amount ofrequests that are (i) for the web page A and (ii) associated with aparticular search term (i.e., a search term that web users once used tocharacterize the content of the web page A, but which they no longer useas often).

At block 406, the method involves responsive to determining that thefirst computing-device did not receive the threshold amount of requeststhat are (i) for the web page and (ii) associated with the particularsearch term, modifying the meta-tag data based on the particular searchterm. For example, this may involve responsive to the web-page server106 determining that the web page-server did not receive the thresholdamount of requests that are (i) for the web page A (ii) associated withthe particular search term, the web-page server 106 modifying themeta-tag data based on the particular search term.

In another example, if the particular search term already exists as akeyword specified by the meta-tag data, the particular search term maybe removed from being a keyword specified by the meta-tag data. As such,modifying the meta-tag data may involve removing, from a set of meta-tagkeywords of the web page, a meta-tag keyword that specifies theparticular search term. For example, this may involve web-page server106 removing from a set of meta-tag keywords of the web page A, ameta-tag keyword that specifies the particular search term.

As another example, if the particular search term already exists as akeyword specified by the meta-tag data, a priority of the particularsearch term specified as a keyword by the meta-tag data may be decreasedto have a lower level of priority among the meta-tag keywords of the webpage. As such, in another example, modifying the meta-tag data mayinvolve decreasing a priority level assigned to a meta-tag keywordwithin a group of meta-tag keywords of the web page, where the meta-tagkeyword specifies the particular search term. For example, this mayinvolve the web-page server 106 decreasing a priority level assigned toa meta-tag keyword within a group of meta-tag keywords of the web page,where the meta-tag keyword specifies the particular search term.

At block 408, the method involves transmitting the modified meta-tagdata to a second computing-device, wherein the second computing-deviceis configured for (i) receiving the transmitted modified meta-tag data,(ii) receiving a request for a list of search results based on a set ofsearch terms, (iii) responsive to receiving the request, using the setof search terms and the modified meta-tag data to perform a web search,thereby generating a list of search results, and (iv) transmitting thelist of search results to a third computing-device.

It should be noted that any combination of the preceding operations ortechniques may be combined in order to achieve a desired result ofmodified meta-tag data. Further, the web-traffic data may have beencollected over an extended period of time, so that modifying themeta-tag data may reflect a search trend over that extended period oftime.

IV. Example Variations

The variations described in connection with select examples of thedisclosed system and method may be applied to all other examples of thedisclosed system and method.

Further, while one or more acts have been described as being performedby or otherwise related to certain devices or entities (e.g., theweb-page server 106), the acts may be performed by or otherwise relatedto any device or entity.

In addition, it should be understood that numerous variations of thedisclosed system and method are possible. For instance, structuralelements and process steps can be rearranged, combined, distributed,eliminated, or otherwise changed, while remaining within the scope ofthe embodiments as claimed.

Further, the acts need not be performed in the disclosed order, althoughin some examples, an order may be preferred. Also, not all acts need tobe performed to achieve the desired advantages of the disclosed systemand method, and therefore not all acts are required.

While select examples of the disclosed system and method have beendescribed, alterations and permutations of these examples will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Other changes,substitutions, and alterations are also possible without departing fromthe disclosed system and method in its broader aspects as set forth inthe following claims.

We claim:
 1. A method comprising: accessing web-traffic data associatedwith a web page hosted by a first computing-device, wherein the web pagecomprises meta-tag data; using the accessed web-traffic data todetermine that the first computing-device received a threshold amount ofrequests that are (i) for the web page and (ii) associated with aparticular search term; responsive to determining that the firstcomputing-device received the threshold amount of requests that are (i)for the web page and (ii) associated with the particular search term,modifying the meta-tag data based on the particular search term; andtransmitting the modified meta-tag data to a second computing-device,wherein the second computing-device is configured for (i) receiving thetransmitted modified meta-tag data, (ii) receiving a request for a listof search results based on a set of search terms, (iii) responsive toreceiving the request, using the set of search terms and the modifiedmeta-tag data to perform a web search, thereby generating a list ofsearch results, and (iv) transmitting the list of search results to athird computing-device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the thresholdamount of requests that are (i) for the web page and (ii) associatedwith the particular search term comprises a threshold number of requeststhat are (i) for the web page, (ii) associated with the particularsearch term, and (iii) received by the first computing-device within aparticular time period.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying themeta-tag data based on the particular search term comprises adding, to aset of meta-tag keywords of the web page, a meta-tag keyword thatspecifies the particular search term.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinmodifying the meta-tag data based on the particular search termcomprises increasing a priority level assigned to a meta-tag keywordwithin a group of meta-tag keywords of the web page, wherein themeta-tag keyword specifies the particular search term.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: the second computing-device receiving thetransmitted modified meta-tag data; the second computing-devicereceiving the request for the list of search results based on the set ofsearch terms; responsive to receiving the request, the secondcomputing-device using the set of search terms and the modified meta-tagdata to perform the web search, thereby generating the list of searchresults; and the second computing-device transmitting the list of searchresults to the third computing-device.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: the third computing-device receiving and outputting thetransmitted list of search results.
 7. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, whenexecuted by a processor, cause performance of a set of acts comprising:accessing web-traffic data associated with a web page hosted by a firstcomputing-device, wherein the web page comprises meta-tag data; usingthe accessed web-traffic data to determine that the firstcomputing-device received a threshold amount of requests that are (i)for the web page and (ii) associated with a particular search term;responsive to determining that the first computing-device received thethreshold amount of requests that are (i) for the web page and (ii)associated with the particular search term, modifying the meta-tag databased on the particular search term; and transmitting the modifiedmeta-tag data to a second computing-device, wherein the secondcomputing-device is configured for (i) receiving the transmittedmodified meta-tag data, (ii) receiving a request for a list of searchresults based on a set of search terms, (iii) responsive to receivingthe request, using the set of search terms and the modified meta-tagdata to perform a web search, thereby generating a list of searchresults, and (iv) transmitting the list of search results to a thirdcomputing-device.
 8. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, whereinthe threshold amount of requests that are (i) for the web page and (ii)associated with the particular search term comprises a threshold numberof requests that are (i) for the web page, (ii) associated with theparticular search term, (iii) and received by the first computing-devicewithin a particular period of time.
 9. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 7, wherein modifying the meta-tag data based on the particularsearch term comprises adding, to a set of meta-tag keywords of the webpage, a meta-tag keyword that specifies the particular search term. 10.The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein modifying the meta-tagdata based on the particular search term comprises increasing a prioritylevel assigned to a meta-tag keyword within a group of meta-tag keywordsof the web page, wherein the meta-tag keyword specifies the particularsearch term.
 11. A method comprising: accessing web-traffic dataassociated with a web page hosted by a first computing-device, whereinthe web page comprises meta-tag data; using the accessed web-trafficdata to determine that the first computing-device did not receive athreshold amount of requests that are (i) for the web page and (ii)associated with a particular search term; responsive to determining thatthe first computing-device did not receive the threshold amount ofrequests that are (i) for the web page and (ii) associated with theparticular search term, modifying the meta-tag data based on theparticular search term; and transmitting the modified meta-tag data to asecond computing-device, wherein the second computing-device isconfigured for (i) receiving the transmitted modified meta-tag data,(ii) receiving a request for a list of search results based on a set ofsearch terms, (iii) responsive to receiving the request, using the setof search terms and the modified meta-tag data to perform a web search,thereby generating a list of search results, and (iv) transmitting thelist of search results to a third computing-device.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the threshold amount of requests that are (i) for theweb page and (ii) associated with the particular search term comprises athreshold number of requests that are (i) for the web page, (ii)associated with the particular search term, and (iii) received by thefirst computing-device within a particular time period.
 13. The methodof claim 11, wherein modifying the meta-tag data based on the particularsearch term comprises removing, from a set of meta-tag keywords of theweb page, a meta-tag keyword that specifies the particular search term.14. The method of claim 11, wherein modifying the meta-tag data based onthe particular search term comprises decreasing a priority levelassigned to a meta-tag keyword within a group of meta-tag keywords ofthe web page, wherein the meta-tag keyword specifies the particularsearch term.
 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising: the secondcomputing-device receiving the transmitted modified meta-tag data; thesecond computing-device receiving the request for the list of searchresults based on the set of search terms; responsive to receiving therequest, the second computing-device using the set of search terms andthe modified meta-tag data to perform the web search, thereby generatingthe list of search results; and the second computing-device transmittingthe list of search results to the third computing-device.
 16. The methodof claim 11, further comprising: the third computing-device receivingand outputting the transmitted list of search results.
 17. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions storedthereon that, when executed by a processor, cause performance of a setof acts comprising: accessing web-traffic data associated with a webpage hosted by a first computing-device, wherein the web page comprisesmeta-tag data; using the accessed web-traffic data to determine that thefirst computing-device did not receive a threshold amount of requeststhat are (i) for the web page and (ii) associated with a particularsearch term; responsive to determining that the first computing-devicedid not receive the threshold amount of requests that are (i) for theweb page and (ii) associated with the particular search term, modifyingthe meta-tag data based on the particular search term; and transmittingthe modified meta-tag data to a second computing-device, wherein thesecond computing-device is configured for (i) receiving the transmittedmodified meta-tag data, (ii) receiving a request for a list of searchresults based on a set of search terms, (iii) responsive to receivingthe request, using the set of search terms and the modified meta-tagdata to perform a web search, thereby generating a list of searchresults, and (iv) transmitting the list of search results to a thirdcomputing-device.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, whereinthe threshold amount of requests that are (i) for the web page and (ii)associated with the particular search term comprises a threshold numberof requests that are (i) for the web page, (ii) associated with theparticular search term, (iii) and received by the first computing-devicewithin a particular period of time.
 19. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 17, wherein modifying the meta-tag data based on the particularsearch term comprises removing, from a set of meta-tag keywords of theweb page, a meta-tag keyword that specifies the particular search term.20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein modifying themeta-tag data based on the particular search term comprises decreasing apriority level assigned to a meta-tag keyword within a group of meta-tagkeywords of the web page, wherein the meta-tag keyword specifies theparticular search term.